A Mission To Remember
by Specialk137
Summary: Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke are on an unassisted mission to a festival in an uncharted icy land where they will represent Konoha. Betrayl, new friendships, and new romances? All in this, a mission to remember. SasuSaku, other couples.
1. A New Challenge

**Author's Notes: In this story the Uchiha Massacre didn't occur, therefore Sasuke did not leave, and his personality might seem slightly OOC because of the fact that he doesn't have the avenger attitude. It is also in the Shippuden time, with the characters perhaps being slightly older at 18/19. **

**Disclaimer: All characters mentioned in this story are the property of Masashi Kishimoto and TV Tokyo, and the author of this story does not mean to imply ownership of said characters.**

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Sakura yawned, stretching her arms and shaking the sleep out of her eyes. It was just another morning in her favourite hidden ninja village, Konohagakure. Peeling the sheets off of her, Sakura jumped out and headed to the shower. The sun was shining, the birds were singing. Today was going to be a good day.

* * *

"WHAT?" Sakura exclaimed at her sensei, Kakashi. "A… a mission by ourselves?" she repeated. Her and her team were listening intently to their teacher as they stood within Konoha's training grounds. Sakura was used to being backed up by a higher-trained ninja, and being a medical-nin she was in high demand for many teams.

"Precisely." Kakashi nodded, his one visible eye travelling to his other two pupils, wondering if they would have the same reaction.

"YES! Time to prove my skills!" Naruto yelled, punching his fist into the air. Naruto instantly ran to the nearest tree, punching and kicking with all of his strength. "I'll show everyone what I'm made of!" he promised, slowly making dents in the tree.

Kakashi inwardly sighed. 'Some things never change.' he thought. With two reactions taken care of, he glanced at Sasuke, awaiting his response.

With a roll of his eyes, Sasuke asked, "So what exactly are we doing on this mission?"

'No surprises here, either.' Kakashi thought. Unrolling the scroll in his hands, Kakashi read to his students. "Konoha has been invited to a festival being held in the Land of Iron, as have all the other major hidden ninja villages." Kakashi read.

"Wait, the Land of Iron?" Sakura interrupted. "I thought ninja weren't allowed to go there. Some kind of ancient rule?"

Kakashi nodded, pleased that at least one of them knew of the ancient ways. "The Land of Iron is ruled by samurai, not ninja. They have never been involved in any of the shinobi wars. In fact, they've never been involved with ninja ever, until now." he explained.

With a confused expression Sakura asked, "So then, why now?"

Kakashi continued, "Because the Land of Iron was never involved, they are the perfect neutral ground. All of the village leaders can gather there without fear of one leader having the advantage of an army at their disposal." Kakashi rolled up the scroll, and paused in thought. "Well, that's the theory anyway. This year they are allowing three ninjas from each village to attend their annual festival, as representatives of the village."

Naruto stopped his attack and stared at Kakashi. "A festival?" he asked disappointedly, shoulders drooping. It wasn't exactly the hard-pounding fast paced action he had expected.

"Quiet Naruto! Out of all the ninja in this village, WE'RE being chosen? It's such a great honour!" Sakura gushed.

Sasuke took this time to speak his thoughts, in his usual calm manner. "The only reason they've chosen us is because they couldn't afford to send anyone better. I bet all the other ninja are some of their villages' best, and with an environment that has no interest in getting involved, it's the perfect location for them to strike, or at least gain some political advantage."

Kakashi nodded. "Precisely."

Sakura's eyes lowered, whereas Naruto stayed confused. "So, wait... We're going because... WE'RE THE WORST?" Naruto yelled in realisation.

Kakashi sweat dropped while Naruto fumed silently. "You're not the worst. You guys are the best we have when we eliminate all the senior members, jounin and other chūnin."

"THAT'S NOT THAT MUCH BETTER!" Naruto yelled again, furious.

"Calm down, Naruto." Sakura said, trying to calm the ninja down. "We're still travelling to a whole new location to represent our village. It's not that bad.. I guess.." she reasoned to him, and herself.

"Hn. Dobe." Sasuke muttered. Naruto faced Sasuke, steam ready to blow out his ears in his anger.

Kakashi put his hands up between them. "Yes, yes it's a great honour, and you leave in about two hours, so get packing." he said, almost pushing them away from the field.

Naruto turned away, arms crossing as he angrily muttered, "Teme." Unwilling to face Sasuke, he dashed off, going to get prepared.

* * *

Sakura and Sasuke stood at the Konoha gate, both with small packs over their shoulders. Sakura had her medical pouch attached to her hip, and was wearing her leather gloves, red top, pale pink skirt and red headband with the hidden leaf village's symbol. Sasuke wore his blue vest with the Uchiha crest and white pants, with his ninja utilties in a pouch attached to his thigh with his own blue headband and symbol. Sakura leant against one of the gates, annoyed that Naruto was taking so long.

In a cloud of smoke, Kakashi appeared in front of them, startling Sakura, and Sasuke to a smaller extent. Noting that Naruto wasn't there, Kakashi gave Sakura the map to the festival location, and prepared Sasuke with some of the information about the enemies they'd be facing.

"HEY GUYS! SORRY I'M LATE!" yelled out a blur of orange in the distance, coming from the village. The team members sighed, not surprised at all by their annoying and consistently late teammate. A puffing Naruto slowly came into view, clenching his stomach.

"Last-minute visit to Ichiraku's, Naruto?" Kakashi assumed, his visible eyebrow raised.

"You...betcha!" Naruto wheezed, in between pants.

With a sigh, Kakashi continued his instructions. "In a couple of days, you should reach the border between The Land of Fire, and The Land of Iron. The village should only be one or two more days in, but The Land of Iron is notorious for snowstorms, so make sure to find shelter each night, and a backup shelter if necessary during the day. Just remember to keep scouting for emergency locations, and you'll be fine."

Instructions given, Kakashi bid them all a safe journey, and encouraged them all to get going.

The trio looked at each other, instructions silently passing with each glance. Nodding at Kakashi, they left, beginning their walk along the path. Normally they'd travel through the trees, but the festival wasn't for a week, and by walking they would conserve their strength.

* * *

Sakura looked over at Sasuke, with his stoic face and unflinching gaze staring straight ahead, slightly ahead of herself and Naruto. Jogging slightly to catch up, she gently touched his shoulder to get his attention. Pointing at Naruto behind them, she suggested "Perhaps we should stop."

Sasuke glanced at Naruto and sighed inwardly. 'The dobe again...' he thought.

Naruto was walking, more of limping really, behind his two teammates. Clenching his stomach, and groaning constantly, he was surely a sight to behold. "So hungry..." he moaned constantly.

Sasuke sighed and ceased walking, patiently waiting with Sakura as the shambling ninja caught up to them. Feeling a little malicious, Sasuke asked, "Something wrong, Naruto?"

Whipping his head up to glare at the raven-haired jerk before him, Naruto merely answered his question with a long grumble from his stomach.

Sakura rolled her eyes at the sight before her. A ninja that can take out the leader of the Akatsuki could be reduced to this mess by simple hunger pains. Sakura nudged Sasuke. "Spare a little mercy for the number one hyperactive, knucklehead ninja." she said, taking pity on her friend. With a quick scan, Sakura spotted a tea house that wasn't too far of a walk away. "We can take a short break there, it has been more than four hours." she explained.

Sasuke turned slightly to face the pinkette in front of him. With a sigh, he nodded and began a quick jog. Sakura soon followed, with a grumbling Naruto not too far behind.

* * *

Sakura sighed in content at the tea she held in front of her. She was perfectly happy to just sit and enjoy what she had in front of her. Her teammates, however...

"Alright, one more bowl, then I'm done." Sasuke told Naruto, his pile of ramen bowls already stacked up neatly next to him, almost towering over Sakura, who was sitting next to him.

"Ha! Giving up so easily?" Naruto jeered, his own piles covering the table on his side.

"Not a chance." Sasuke smirked. "But I don't think your coin purse can handle it."

Naruto's grin faded as he looked inside his little frog pouch. Sasuke was right, he couldn't afford any more! His grin returning, he announced, "Alright, three more bowls. Winner is the fastest, loser pays." Extending his hand, Naruto waited, seeing to see if the teme would accept his deal. To his dismay, Sasuke's hand reached out and shook.

"Deal." he agreed, smirking again, calling for three more bowls.

Sakura looked at the two, seeing what 4 years of maturing had done for them.

"Ready..." Naruto started, watching the six bowls being set down in front of them.

She thought the answer seemed pretty clear.

"Set..." Sasuke continued, snapping apart his chopsticks.

All that time boiled down to...

"GO!"

Zip.

Naruto and Sasuke launched into their respective meals, attacking the noodles with admirable gusto.

Sakura watched as Naruto gulped down his food with the same force and need as when they had first entered the shop. Sasuke, on the other hand, seemed to be in an entirely different league.

He managed to somehow consume noodle after noodle with barely a second glance. How on earth was he storing all that food in his skinny body? 'Well..' Sakura thought, taking a second glance, 'Not totally skinny.' He had matured somewhat in the physical department, his muscles becoming more pronounced.'Why am I oggling him?' Sakura wondered to herself. She had gotten over that silly schoolgirl crush on him a while ago, finally realising she would never love or receive love when she was chasing after some guy like an ignorant fangirl. 'Perfectly natural to oggle,' she reasoned, 'I can find whoever I want attractive.'

Focusing herself back to the task at hand, she watched Sasuke and Naruto devour their bowls. Judging by the addition to their bowl towers, Sasuke was nearly done on his second, whereas Naruto had just started. As Sasuke placed his second bowl next to his tower, Sakura slyly thought to herself, "I wonder just how much he's matured..."

Her eyebrows nearly wagging as a villain would, she sneakily snaked her hand down by her side, resting between her and Sasuke. Just as Sasuke began his last bowl, Sakura lightly brushed her hand up against his thigh, causing a brief but noticeable pause in Sasuke's eating pattern. Silently giggling to herself, Sakura put her hand at the tip of Sasuke's knee, slowly running it up towards his thigh. Sasuke made a small choking noise at the back of his throat, glancing at Sakura, silently yelling "What the hell are you doing!".

Ignoring him, Sakura raised the hand to the top of his thigh, and made a figure eight with more pressure, but still light touch of her index finger. Sasuke suddenly coughed into his food, dropping his bowl to the table as he started a coughing fit due to the soup he swallowed.

Naruto saw this, and took it to his advantage, finishing his second bowl and gulping down his third. Sakura patted Sasuke's back as he kept coughing, watching as his chance of winning was reduced to 0, Naruto finishing his last bowl.

When Sasuke's fit subsided, Naruto saw his chance to gloat. "What happened, teme? You were doing so well for once." he said, patronisingly.

Sasuke glanced quickly at Sakura before turning his glare on Naruto. "Soup went down the wrong pipe." he muttered.

Naruto didn't really care as to how Sasuke had lost, the fact remained that Naruto had finally won one of his bets. "Pay up." he demanded, grinning.

Muttering, Sasuke took out the required amount of coins and offered them up to Naruto. Swiping them out of his hands, Naruto grinned even wider, heading off to find the waitress to pay for their meal, for once.

Satisfied that Naruto was out of earshot, Sasuke focused his attention to the frustrating pinkette beside him. "What the hell was that?" he demanded.

Sakura shrugged innocently before replying, "Naruto deserved to win for once." Inwardly smirking, Sakura turned and focused her attention to the tea in front of her, taking a small sip.

"You have an interesting way of showing it." Sasuke growled out, through gritted teeth. Turning away from the annoying woman.

Sakura grinned into her tea, and still holding the cup to her mouth mumbled, "You loved it."

Before he could respond, Naruto returned and announced that they were ready to go. The trio headed outside after bidding farewell to the waitress and the kind chef that had provided all the ramen. They were back on track to the journey that lay ahead of them. But Sasuke could only focus on the last three words Sakura had said. Maybe he had.

But she'd never know.

* * *

**Author's Notes: Soooo how was it? :D This was my first ever SasuSaku fan fiction, I hope it wasn't too bad! Please leave any criticism by reviewing, or PM me. Any ideas, comments, anything would be appreciated ^^ Thank you for reading.**


	2. Camp for the Night

**Author's Notes: So, I'm thinking about how long and how quickly this story should progress. I mean, Sasuke isn't going to suddenly turn into the caring lovable man that everyone eventually turns their Sasuke into. I believe that for true character development, this fan fiction will have to take a while. Sorry all SasuSaku lovers, but you can't love until you love yourself.**

**Disclaimer: ****All characters mentioned in this story are the property of Masashi Kishimoto and TV Tokyo, and the author of this story does not mean to imply ownership of said characters.**

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Sakura shook her head, trying to clear her mind of the fog of sleep that tried to take her over. Looking up at the sky, the moon was in clear view tonight. Sakura took a quick glance at Sasuke, who seemed to have no intention of stopping on his own account. Naruto, on the other hand, seemed to be about to collapse onto the path. Sakura sighed, knowing it would be up to her to stop their journey for the night.

"I think we should rest for the night." Sakura announced through a yawn, stretching her arms. Naruto nodded vigorously, yawning through his jerky head movements.

Sasuke gave a quick nod. "We'll find a clearing." he said.

The three ninja leaped into the trees to scout for a suitable camping position. The forest wasn't as dense in this area, so it seemed they would find a clearing fairly easily.

"Over there!" Naruto exclaimed. His companions located the spot he was pointing at, and decided that, for once, Naruto had chosen an excellent position.

Making quick work of the area distancing them from their new camp, the trio landed in the soft grass. With a moan, Naruto fell to the ground, waving his arms through the comfortable blades, revelling in the feeling of a soft floor.

Rolling her eyes, Sakura said, "Naruto, go find some firewood, Sasuke, see if you can locate a stream to fish in, and I'll set up the tents." The two she had instructed nodded, placed their packs on the ground, and left to perform their respective duties. 'Huh'. Sakura thought, with a surprised blink. 'Guess I'm more of a leader than I thought.'

Picking a few stones that were around her, Sakura arranged them in a circle in the middle of their clearing. She then pulled out the grass within the circle and placed it on top of one of the stones, thinking that the grass could be used as tinder. Their fire pit constructed, Sakura began the task of pulling the tents out of their packs and putting them up.

By the time the two boys, Naruto with a pile of sticks in his arms, had returned, Sakura had both her and Sasuke's tent set up. About to reach into Naruto's pack, Sakura was suddenly interrupted by Naruto, who had dropped his sticks in a hurry, attempting to pull the pack away. "Umm let me do that Sakura," Naruto insisted, "I can do it myself!"

Eyebrow raising, Sakura pulled the pack back towards her in one big pull, and opened it up. Her mouth dropped to the ground at what she saw. Instant ramen. His bag was completely filled with instant ramen.

"Naruto…" Sakura began, inciting a look of fear from the boy. "Where is your tent? Your sleeping bag? Everything we need to, y'know, SURVIVE!" Naruto scratched his head shamefacedly, embarrassed, but still pleased with his decision.

"Instant ramen is food! We always need food!" Naruto insisted. Annoyed out of her mind, Sakura just threw his pack back at him, instant ramen packs spilling out of it.

"And where are you going to sleep then?" she asked, fuming silently.

Naruto just shrugged, filling his pack back up to the brim with instant ramen, responding, "I'll just share with one of you."

…

An awkward silence followed, followed by Sasuke and Sakura looking at each other, deliberating whether or not to go along with it or beat the crap out of him.

"Shot not!" Sakura yelled, before Sasuke got the chance.

"I am NOT sharing with the teme." Naruto stated. 'Not now, not ever!' he thought. "I'll get his germs! And when I get them, I might become like him" Naruto explained, sticking his tongue out at the thought.

"Well this is what you get for bringing ONLY food." Sakura replied, thinking that he deserved exactly what he got.

"Why should I suffer for HIS idiocy?" Sasuke demanded.

Sakura looked at him and smiled. "Do you not understand the rules of shot not?"

Sasuke glared at her, annoyed. Some stupid rule would be forcing him to share a room with an idiot. Some rule.

* * *

Team Seven was standing on river water. Sasuke had successfully led them to the stream he had found, and now it was time for some late-night fishing. Sasuke was carefully watching the darting fish around them, taking his time to strike. Eventually they would come closer and closer, all he had to do was wait.

'There!' he thought, rearing his hand to take the fish in front of him. As his hand was about to strike fish, an orange blur knocked him out of the way, causing him and his frustrating companion to land in the water.

"DOBE!" Sasuke shouted, shoving Naruto off of him. Angry that he was now soaking wet, Sasuke tried to pull himself up wh-. Wait. What is that? Why is it wriggling!

Sakura watched from a distance as Sasuke started doing some strange dance. He was shaking all over, waving his arms and legs everywhere.

Now Naruto's doing it too, what is going on with these two? Sakura ignored them, simply taking out her shuriken and quickly skewering two wandering fish.

"AHHHH! WHAT IS THIS?" Naruto cried, ripping the slimy thing from beneath his jacket. Looking at it, he realised it was just a fish. Glancing up, he saw that Sasuke was holding one as well, though smirking at Naruto.

"Took your time, dobe." Sasuke smirked at him, holding his wiggling fish up in front of Naruto's face. "What kind of dance was that, huh?" he asked mockingly.

Sakura arrived on the scene, listening to their every word. A smile on her face, she cleared her throat.

The two looked at her, one ashamed of himself, the other hoping Sakura didn't disclose what she had seen.

Rolling her eyes at Naruto and Sasuke, Sakura took their fish and carried them back to camp, the boys following behind, embarrassed at what had occurred.

After a successful cooking and eating of the fish, the trio decided that it would be best if they retired for the night. Sakura grinning to herself, she waved the two goodnight as she head into her tent. "Goodnight boys," she called out, "Have a nice sleep."

Sakura grinned even wider as she heard mumbled, angry replies to her cheerful farewell. Putting her head down on the sleeping bag she had taken from her pack, Sakura happily dozed off.

* * *

There was something crawling up beside her. "Go away," Sakura softly, but firmly said, still in a dream-like state. Lying on her side, there was someone in her tent trying to sleep next to her.

"He's snoring," a voice softly replied, sounding very drowsy. Assuming it was Naruto, Sakura mumbled a whatever and let her mind wander off again. His arms reaching around her stomach, Sakura stiffened slightly, then relaxed.

"Better not go up or down." she warned quietly, knowing he'd comply.

A manly chuckle responded to her warning. 'Wait? Manly?'

Suddenly sitting up, Sakura looked towards her companion she had thought was Naruto. 'SASUKE!' she yelled in her head.

"What the heck are you doing!" she demanded, angry.

Sasuke let his arms return to his sides. "Trying to sleep," he responded, yawning. "You should too." he encouraged, gently attempting to pull her back down.

"Get out!" Sakura commanded, annoyed with his relaxed manner, but still allowing herself to be brought horizontal. Arms wrapping around her for the second time, Sakura couldn't help but enjoy the feeling of someone's body so close to her.

Sasuke placed his head on her neck and whispered, "You love it."

Sakura stiffened at his words. Grinning inwardly, she thought 'I'll show you just how much I love it.'

* * *

Sasuke angrily stole his sleeping bag from under Naruto's head. His abrupt ejection from Sakura's tent had left him in a foul mood.

Resolving to sleep under the stars, he climbed into it next to the fire, letting his eyes droop down.

'She'll pay for that.' he promised.

* * *

Naruto stretched and yawned, pleased with the amount of sleep he had last night. As soon as he had hit the floor he was asleep, and he felt ready to continue their journey.

Peeling back the tent flap, Naruto saw Sasuke and Sakura sitting and having some quick breakfast by the campfire. If Naruto had looked closer he would've realised that they were angled away from each other, but his stomach interrupted him.

"What's for breakfast?" Naruto cheerfully asked, emerging from the tent. Sasuke held up some fish to Naruto, and Naruto thankfully took it.

Sakura finished her own meal and looked up at the two beside her. "So, how did everyone sleep?" Sakura asked innocently.

Sasuke grunted, indicating a "good enough" to the group. Sakura smiled, half pleased that he had managed to get some sleep, and the other half wickedly happy that he had not enjoyed his time without her. 'It's always nice to be appreciated.' she thought.

Naruto smiled at Sakura, "I had a great sleep Sakura-chan! I didn't even notice teme was there!" he answered happily.

Sasuke muttered at this, still sore after his sleep on the ground.

"What was that, Sasuke?" Sakura politely queried.

Sasuke cleared his throat before responding, "About the sleeping arrangements. I think we should have a rotation." Noting the blank look on Naruto's face, he continued. "We should change who gets the tent to themselves each night. Each night, someone different does."

Sakura nodded in understanding. It was fair, but annoying.

"I have it next!" Naruto suddenly yelled.

Sasuke cursed. 'Why am I so slow?' he thought to himself angrily.

"What about in the Land of Iron? We'll have to use the sleeping bags then because of the temperature. We only have two of them as well." Sakura thought aloud.

The three looked at each other, each one knowing how to solve the problem, but no one wanting to say it aloud.

"We'll deal with that when we get there." Sasuke said, delaying the inevitable.

Sakura and Naruto nodded, satisfied to go along that train of thought.

"Well let's get going!" Naruto exclaimed. Attempting to take the tent down by jumping on it, Sakura went up to him and scolded him with a firm smack.

Sasuke remained seated, thinking about what Sakura had said. Again. They could always have one in a tent without a sleeping bag, one with a sleeping bag and without a tent, and one with both. 'No…' he thought. 'That won't work. It will be freezing, we'll need both to survive.' He concluded that two of them were going to have to share a sleeping bag. Shuddering inwardly, he also concluded that it would not be him and Naruto.

'So…' he thought. 'Sakura and Naruto, or Sakura and me?'

* * *

**Author's Notes: :O Sasuke! Are you thinking of letting Sakura and Naruto sleep in the same bag? So thanks for reading, I know this is a bit shorter than the first chapter but I wanted to focus on the camp for an entire chapter, and I didn't want it to be too long! Sasuke staying in character, I hope! Review or PM for any ideas, comments, or anything else :D Again, thanks for reading.**


	3. Relaxing

**Author's Notes: This chapter is going to make it seem like all Team Seven do is rest ;..; I just like skipping all the boring walking parts I guess :D So, trying to get in some Sasuke character development in here, we shall see where it leads!**

**Disclaimer: All characters mentioned in this story are the property of Masashi Kishimoto and TV Tokyo, and the author of this story does not mean to imply ownership of said characters.**

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Sasuke continued his way along the path, stealthily glancing at Naruto and Sakura. They both seemed to be holding up in the usual way, steadily making their way to the border of the Land of Iron. He quickly glanced at Sakura once more.  
'Just to check,' he reasoned, 'Checking your facts is one of the traits of a good leader.'

Sasuke couldn't help but feel ashamed of his actions towards Sakura last night. He may have been drowsy, but that was no excuse. He had simply assumed that Sakura had retained the crush she had on him when they were young, as sad as it was. Mentally kicking himself, he realised that even if she didn't, he was being the exact opposite of a gentleman.

Sighing, Sasuke didn't want to care how he had acted towards her. All he needed to focus on was becoming one of the ANBU Black Ops. He had been offered the position before, but all because of Itachi.  
'Itachi..' he thought to himself. 'Always the one to be charitable.' Sasuke thought bitterly.

His brother had surpassed him in so many ways, and yet he was still only 24. He had become ANBU Captain at 13, and was simply beyond his years. He could be Hokage if he wanted to, and Sasuke knew it, well and truly.

'The ANBU Black Ops…' Sasuke thought, 'Why haven't they asked me to join?' he wondered. Was it because of his time with Team Seven? With another glance to his two companions, he couldn't help but wonder if it was because of them he wasn't an ANBU. These were his two closest friends, and although he couldn't (or wouldn't) show it, he cared for them deeply.

Sasuke directed his thoughts back to the ANBU. Why wasn't he one of them? He had the skills demanded of the best ninja in Konoha, but he wanted, no, needed, to be asked by them. What would people think if they thought Itachi had something to do with it? What would Kakashi and Naruto think? What would Sakura think?

Again shaking himself, why did he care?  
'Parents and their teaching of manners.' he thought to himself, it was the only explanation.

A sudden piercing squeal filled the air, interrupting Sasuke's thoughts. Looking immediately at Sakura, the look of shock on her face meant that she had made the noise.

"What is it?" Sasuke demanded, preparing for a possible incoming attack.

Then, the strangest thing happened.

The corners of Sakura's mouth tilted upwards, in a breath taking smile.

"BATH HOUSE!"

* * *

"This is stupid." Naruto was the first to say it, beating Sasuke. "We're supposed to be at the border tomorrow!" The three ninja stood outside the bath house, Sakura holding the door open.

Sasuke nodded, agreeing with Naruto (a rare occasion). "With all of these stops, we're going to be delayed at least half a day."

Sakura ignored them both, walking inside and heading to the front desk. "I didn't bathe last night, nor all this morning, so I'm making up for it now!" she insisted.

Naruto shook his head in disgust. "Bathing?" he whined. "That'll just slow us down further, right Sasuke?" Naruto said, wanting support from the teme.

Sakura turned to see Sasuke's reaction, pausing in her march.

Sasuke weighed up the options in his head. He could go without bathing for another day, or be late to get to the border.

Sakura sensed Sasuke's pros and cons list forming, and decided to add one.  
"We still have a week until the festival, that's plenty of time to reach the village and train there for a couple of days."

Sasuke nodded, that was true. A bath wouldn't put them behind much in their schedule, and would leave them refreshed for longer.  
"Alright, we'll have a quick break." he conceded.

Sakura cheered at his decision while Naruto hung his shoulders, in both shame and annoyance.

Sakura took pity on her orange friend, and rubbed her hands on his shoulders.  
"Don't worry Naruto-kun, you can get some hot water for your instant ramen." she encouraged.

Naruto instantly lit up, turning around and giving Sakura a big hug.  
"Thanks Sakura-chan!" he announced gleefully. Dashing off to find a chef, Sakura was left at the front desk with Sasuke.

Giggling lightly, she turned to face the woman seated behind the desk.

Sasuke couldn't believe it. Naruto had hugged her, and instead of punching his face, she accepted it! She even giggled! When had this happened? Teeth beginning to grind, Sasuke wondered when Naruto had been allowed such treatment. Probably when they started their hanging out together Sasuke believed. When he was off training to be an ANBU, they were laughing, and having fun. And… hugging…

Sasuke didn't believe him to be a jealous guy, most guys didn't. But the thought of Sakura and Naruto spending time together… alone.

Sakura continued to barter with the owner of the bathhouse, not noticing the peeved Sasuke beside her. After paying her the necessary coins, Sakura thanked the lady for her time, and bowed respectfully to her before turning to Sasuke.

"Alright, Sasuke, we've got time in the private bath! I figure that the male and female ones were full, so I paid the extra and we get the private bath to ourselves! And because I paid the extra we get…" Sakura paused dramatically before grinning about her decision.

"Massages!" she squealed happily.

Sasuke's reaction was almost expected.

With a quick "Hn." he was off, probably to go find the male change room.

Sakura was left with her mouth slightly open, not anticipating such a brief and cold response. Shrugging to herself, she was off to find the change room.

Walking away from the scene as fast as his legs could carry him, Sasuke couldn't believe his ears. Naruto got a kun, but what did Sasuke get? Absolutely nothing, not even a san. What had happened to his little pinkette fangirl? Maybe he'd been focusing too hard on other things. If he continued like this, would his best friends forget him?

* * *

Naruto sighed in content, sinking lower into the water. He had first intended to just eat his way through his instant ramen, but the empty bath had been too tempting!

Closing his eyes, Naruto leaned against the wall of the bath, letting the steam help him drift off to sleep.

* * *

"_Naruto!" Sakura cried in joy, opening her arms wide as he ran towards her. They stood at the gate of Konoha, welcoming each other with a warm embrace after two and a half long years. Naruto let himself enjoy her soft skin, it had been far too long._

_Grinning at his childhood companion, Naruto complimented her on her new outfit. "You look great Sakura-chan!"_

_Sakura blushed in pleasure, more than happy to see Naruto again. She was ecstatic. Glancing around Naruto and behind him, she was anxious to see if another body would appear._

_Naruto sensed who she was looking for, and told her "The teme is off at a training camp. Trying to be better for the ANBU."_

_Both sighed at the thought of the companion. "Why is he trying so hard when they already offered?" Sakura asked, turning to begin the walk to the Hokage, who was most definitely ready to meet Naruto again. _

_Naruto picked up the satchel he had dropped when they embraced, and slung it over his shoulder.  
"He thinks that they only offered because Itachi is captain." he explained._

_Sighing again, they both wondered when their friend would accept that he deserved what he was offered. Naruto swung his free arm over Sakura's shoulder, pulling her in close and continuing their walk._

"_So what's changed in Konoha?" Naruto asked cheerfully._

_Sakura smiled at him and his ways of changing the subject. "Well Tsunade-sama has gained some weight." Sakura responded, laughing._

_Naruto joined in with her, imagining what Grandma Tsunade would look like._

_Unbeknownst to them, the friends and their affectionate actions were being watched by a pair of sad, lavender-tinted white eyes._

_

* * *

_

"Hey Naruto."

Naruto looked up to see a beaming Sakura in front of him, towel around her head and body, clutching a hair brush and some hair products to her chest.

His eyes popped out of his head. "S-Sakura? What are you doing here?"

Rolling her eyes, Sakura answered, "It's a private bath, Naruto. Why do you think no one's here?"

Blushing furiously, Naruto grabbed his towel behind him and pulled it under the water, covering himself up. Even though you couldn't see anything below the water, he didn't want to take any chances. Rushing out of the room, Naruto ran to the change room, a red tint obvious on his face.

"Huh." Sakura simply said. Shrugging her shoulders, she removed her towels and slid gracefully into the water. With a happy sigh, she brought the hair products over to her and began shampooing and conditioning her cherry blossom hair.

* * *

Sasuke was putting his clothes in his locker when Naruto came running in, with a bright red blush covering his face. Sasuke smirked at the sight of the ninja all flustered.

"What's got you in such a hurry?" Sasuke asked, not really caring, but enjoying seeing his friend bothered by something.

Glaring at his companion, Naruto mumbled something in response, remembering what he had seen.

"Hmm? What was that?" Sasuke queried, wrapping a towel around his lower half, leaving his chest bare.

"I uhh, saw Sakura… in the um.. bath.." Naruto answered hesitantly, wondering how Sasuke would react.

Sasuke paused in his wrapping, before continuing to tuck it in to his waist.

"Hn." he responded, uninterested. Closing his locker door, Sasuke walked out of the change room, intending to have a satisfying bath. Sakura was probably gone by now, and he wanted no interruptions.

* * *

Sakura was rinsing conditioner through her hair when she heard padded footsteps coming towards the bath. Her back was to the door, and she put the conditioner down before slowly turning to see who had joined her.

There she saw Sasuke, in all his glory. Wearing only a towel, he was a sight to behold, and then obssess over. Sakura couldn't help the pink blush that coloured her cheeks, she suddenly felt over exposed, though the steam covered her entire body, and parts of her face.

"Good morning." Sakura said, turning back around and taking the soap from her pile of products. If only Sakura had looked longer, she would have seen Sasuke's eyes roaming over whatever parts of her body he could find.

"Hn." he responded. It appeared Naruto was right. Sakura was indeed bathing, and she didn't seem the least bit shy about it.

Sakura heard the sound of a towel being removed, and pointedly told herself to not turn around. There was a soft splash as Sasuke entered the water. Sakura scrubbed herself with the soap, wondering why Sasuke all of a sudden wanted to bathe.

'Probably trying to see if he can get some 'action'.' Sakura thought. 'Well if he thinks he's going to get anywhere close to what he tried to get last night, he can forget it!' she thought furiously, scrubbing harder and accidentally scratching her skin.

Sasuke heard her cry of pain and immediately came over. Sakura was hunched over, clutching her forearm when Sasuke gently picked it up. He was so close to her, she could see every line and curve of his muscles. With this realisation, Sakura was glad she was sitting down, the water reaching up to her neck.

"You need to be more careful." Sasuke admonished, gently examining the red skin.

Sakura almost growled at him, pulling her arm away. "I don't need any more of your 'help'." she responded angrily, turning away from him to continue scrubbing.

Sasuke stood there with shock. She was obviously still very unhappy about what had happened last night, and he could hardly blame her. Racking his brains for the right thing to do, he slowly wafted around until he was in front of her.

Sakura refused to look at him or even acknowledge his existence, scrubbing away with her soap.

"Sakura." Sasuke spoke, trying to get her attention. Sakura turned towards her right more, hoping to avoid the perverted boy.

"Sakura." Sasuke repeated, slowly getting annoyed. He was trying to apologise and she was going to act like this?

Again turning, Sakura put her soap away, resolving to take her hairbrush.

Sasuke eyed the item warily, knowing she could turn it into a weapon. Sasuke sighed inwardly, he was going to have to do something drastic, by his standards, to get her attention.

"Sakura?"

Sakura fell still. He said her name so quietly, and yet so needing, as if he was pleading for her attention. Knowing how hard that would have been for Sasuke, Sakura slowly turned to face him.

"What?" she asked, trying her best to stay calm.

The next words out of his mouth shocked her to her very core.

"I'm sorry."

They were so simple, so well known, and yet so elegant and special when spoken with those lips. Those lips… 'Agh! Stop it!' she thought to herself. Focusing on having a look of shock and then calm, Sakura raised an eyebrow, waiting for elaboration.

"For last night. I know I wasn't exactly… normal. I was just experimenting, and I realise how wrong of me it was." Sasuke spoke, each word coming out strangled, showing the supreme effort it took for him to apologise. The great Uchiha's pride was surely being damaged by these statements.

Not being able to help herself, Sakura suddenly let out peals of laughter, throwing her head back and laughing.

Sasuke stood stock still, wondering what on earth was going.

"You just… looked… so… cute!" Sakura cried in between laughter.

When she finally finished her fit, Sakura was greeted by a glaring Sasuke. In a great mood, Sakura simply laughed at his expression and waggled her finger in his face.

"Aww is the great Uchiha embarrassed?" Sakura asked cutely, making a little pout at the end.

Sasuke stared at those pale pink lips, they looked so inviting. He couldn't help but wonder if they were as soft as they looked.

Sakura finished her pout and grinned at him, calming herself down to actually speak.

"Finished?" Sasuke asked, annoyed.

Sakura smiled again at him, he was even cuter when he was angry.

"Thank you Sasuke." Sakura said, softly. She would've hugged him, but uhh, in her current state it seemed unwise.

Sasuke gave a small smirk at her. She thought HE looked adorable?

"You're welcome." he answered, pleased that they were on better terms. Sasuke moved a little further from Sakura, prompting a questioning pout. Grinning to himself, Sasuke ducked underneath the water, before flicking his hair up into the air.

Wiping the water out of his eyes, he examined Sakura to see what his handiwork had done to her.

With a shocked gasp, her hands wiping her eyes, she was completely soaked.

Eyes narrowing, she grabbed her hairbrush and began her advance on Sasuke.

He would've been afraid, but she looked too darn cute.

* * *

Sasuke leaned further into her lap, enjoying the feeling of the bristles of her hairbrush going through his locks. Sakura was enjoying it too, occasionally running her fingers through his hair, making it seem like she was checking how wet it was.

They were in a sitting room, awaiting Naruto to return from the small bar where he was devouring his instant ramen. Sakura was sitting cross-legged with Sasuke lying down, his head in her lap. **(A/N: Yes. They are wearing clothes.)**

Sasuke had forgotten how he had convinced her to brush his hair, but he didn't care. The feeling of her so close to him was new, and comforting. Without realising it, his eyes soon began to close, dozing off.

Sakura felt Sasuke's breathing even, and could see his eyes closed. He was so calm when he slept. No longer Mr. Emotionless, he became as tender and loving as when he was a child.

Running her fingers through his hair, Sasuke seemed to purr in his sleep. Smiling, Sakura continued her brushing, letting his raven locks fall over her fingertips.

"You make a lovely couple."

Sakura stopped and immediately looked up, feeling like a caught deer. An older couple were entering the bath house, and the woman had spoken, gesturing to Sakura and Sasuke.

Sakura blushed before responding, "We're not in a relationship. He's my teammate."

The woman didn't seem to believe her, but Sakura guessed that from the way she was handling him, it was to be expected. The woman smiled anyway.

"Well, you would make a lovely couple." She said, editing her statement.

Sakura blushed even deeper, embarrassed but pleased by what she had said.

The woman and her husband walked away, presumably to the change rooms.

Sakura gently lifted Sasuke's head from her lap and placed it down. His soft snores were incredibly endearing. Sakura wiggled down next to him, lying with her back on the ground. Turning her head slightly to the left, she got a nice view of him adorably sleeping. Remembering Naruto would be back soon, Sakura relaxed, waiting for his inevitable return.

* * *

Sasuke wearily opened his eyes, and saw a very pleasant sight. Resting on his chest was Sakura, her head angled up towards his. What he saw next, however, was not as pleasant.

Naruto was lying next to Sakura, his arms wrapped around her. Sasuke pulled Sakura's head off of him gently, but not quite as gently unhooked Naruto from spooning her.

"We've got to go. We must have wasted more than a couple of hours at this place." He said loudly, waking up the two drowsy ninja.

Sakura was the first up, agreeing with him that they had better get a move on. Sakura went off to go pack up their stuff while Naruto still lay on the ground, presumably asleep.

Sasuke sighed at the orange ninja, not really wanting to make the effort to wake him up. 'I guess there's only one way to wake him up…' Sasuke said.

His hand curled into a fist, making a downward path to the sleeping nin.

Sakura returned with all their backpacks to a strange sight. Sasuke seemed to be dashing around Naruto, attacking various spots, all to no success.

Smiling, Sakura reached inside to Naruto's bag and pulled out an instant ramen flavour pack.

Motioning for Sasuke to step aside, she placed it under Naruto's nose and watched his eyes open and come into focus.

"Come on dobe, we've got to go." Sasuke simply said, throwing his pack onto him and walking away.

Sakura, with a little more sympathy, waited for Naruto to fully wake up. Motioning for Naruto to get up, she prodded him outside of the bath house.

By the looks of the sun, it was about noon, so that had used a couple of hours resting and relaxing.  
'Two hours well spent' they all thought. Each for their own reasons. Continuing their journey once more, they wondered what may await them at the border.

* * *

**Author's Notes: Naww Sasuke :D Little bit of NaruSaku. SasuSaku being very cute ^^ So what did ya think? Review, PM me, do whatever you want, just lemme know how you think this should continue :D I have literally no writer's block at the moment, so I think I'll continue doing my story/a day/2 days for a couple more chapters, see how my mind likes it. Thank you for reading!**

**Edit: I think I'll be taking a little break for the new year, but I absolutely promise this story will resume on the 5th of January, if not earlier.  
**


	4. The Monster of the Hidden Mist

**Author's Note: So, I hope the Adventure part of the story's genre is seen more prominent here, and although I would love to write a story containing only fluff and peace, I'm afraid there needs to be a little bit of conflict here and there (obvious foreshadowing ftw).**

**Disclaimer: All characters mentioned in this story are the property of Masashi Kishimoto and TV Tokyo, and the author of this story does not mean to imply ownership of said characters.**

**

* * *

**

Naruto put his hands up behind his head, stretching as he walked with his two companions. The feeling of the sun was great, and coupled with their relaxing session at the bath house, it felt like it was going to be a good day.

An arm shot out in front of Naruto and Sakura, pausing their walk. Sasuke looked at them both, knowing that neither of them could see what his Sharingan could.

"Someone's nearby." Sasuke mouthed, jerking his head in front of them and slightly to the right.

The three nin readied themselves for an attack, hands warily leaning towards their shuriken pouches. Sasuke's eyes searched for the trace of the chakra he had seen before. If his assumptions were correct, then this ninja might just be…

"How nice to meet the famous chūnin trio from Konoha." an ominous voice spoke, echoing slightly through the forest.

Sasuke's eyes focused, continuing his search for the chakra pattern. Suddenly spotting it, he pointed it out to Sakura and Naruto.

"Over there!" he told them. The ninja jumped out from his hiding place, landing in the clearing to greet his opponents. He was no ordinary ninja, with pale blue skin and small white eyes and what looked like gills underneath his eyes. He had a massive sword covered in bandages over his shoulder.

"Kisame Hoshigaki." Sasuke stated, eyes narrowing.

Kisame chuckled deeply. "I'm pleased that the Uchihas still remember my name."

Naruto and Sakura looked at Sasuke, confused. Who was this man, and what did he have to do with the Uchihas?

Sasuke had absolutely no idea. His cool exterior contrasted to the confusing thoughts tumbling through his head. Sasuke had only heard of this man through bingo books, and some information from Kakashi. What did he have to do with Sasuke's clan?

"What do you want?" Sakura demanded, fists clenching with chakra.

Another chuckle resonated throughout the clearing. "Why," began Kisame, "to finish what Itachi could not."

Before the companions could decipher what he meant, Kisame began his attack.

"Earth Style: Underground Shark Jutsu!" he shouted.

The earth below him seemed to melt like liquid, and Kisame sank into it as if it was water. He kept descending until all that could be seen was his bandaged sword, protruding from the ground like a dorsal fin.

Without warning, the fin suddenly advanced with rapid speed towards Sasuke, ripping through the ground.

Sasuke could do nothing but stare as it raced towards him, mind blank of all strategy. As the fin was near one metre in front of him, Kisame leaped out of the ground with his sword held above him, intent on making his downward blow.

Time seemed to slow down for Sasuke, his heart beating in his ears. Was this going to be the end? Would he die when he was barely a man?

An orange blur knocked Kisame out of the way, tackling him to the ground beside Sasuke, his sword falling out of his hands and landing beside Naruto.

Naruto cried out in pain, Kisame clambering back to stand in front of him.

Smirking, Kisame explained, "My sword, Samehada, is taking your chakra every second you allow it to touch you."

Naruto, shocked, pushed the sword away and took his own stand. Facing Kisame, the sword between them, Naruto had lost nearly a quarter of his chakra reserves from just a few seconds of contact. An impressive sword indeed.

"Shadow clone jutsu!" Naruto cried, making the familiar hand sign. Three clones appeared in a cloud of smoke, and they began their assault on the shark-like ninja.

Sakura and Sasuke were on the side lines, Sakura formulating a plan while Sasuke snapped himself out of his reverie.

The clones had disappeared with a swing of Kisame's Samehada, whacking the real Naruto back as well onto the ground.

"Naruto!" Sakura cried. Facing Kisame again, Sakura charged her chakra into her right fist. She quickly punched the ground towards him, causing Kisame to fall into the rubble in the ground, as she rushed over to help Naruto.

Naruto picked himself slowly off the ground, another hit from Samehada had diminished his chakra resources.

Plan suddenly formed, Sakura whispered her idea as she healed Naruto with her glowing green palms. Naruto nodded happily, "Nice one Sakura-chan!"

Grinning, Sakura dashed off to Sasuke to let him know as well.

Kisame had climbed out of the mini chasm and raised an eyebrow at the ninjas, they had a plan. Readying himself for an attack, he lifted Samehada in front of him, preparing.

"Shadow clone jutsu!" Naruto cried again.

'This kid again?' Kisame thought, annoyed.

With a puff of smoke, Naruto's clones appeared. But it wasn't just three. It was hundreds.

Eyes widening, Kisame thought, 'How can he be able to do that? Samehada must have reduced his chakra pool to nearly a quarter by now!'

The clones started their attack on Kisame, punching their way to him as he defended using his massive sword.

"Now Naruto!" Sakura yelled.

'Huh?' Kisame thought, continuing his defense. The clones were defeated, what else could he do?

Naruto rocketed from beneath Kisame, punching upwards into his chin, similar to what he did to Neji during the chūnin exams.

Kisame rocketed upwards and glanced to his left just in time to see a fireball headed his way.

Sasuke surveyed his handiwork, seeing the ninja's surprised face just before the blast hit him. Smoke flew through the air.

As it slowly cleared, Kisame's silhouette could be seen.

'What?' Sasuke thought. 'How had he been able to get away with barely a second left?' Looking towards the spot he had been, and where he was now, the unique man must have incredible speed.

The air was clear again as Kisame huffed at the ninjas. "Looks like you brats are stronger than I thought."

Sasuke smirked. "Bit harder to take us on outside of your natural habitat, huh?" he asked patronisingly, gloating somewhat.

Naruto grinned. "Yeah, sharkboy!"

Sakura inwardly facepalmed at the two boys. Some things would still never change.

Eyebrows narrowing, the ninja jumped into the trees and swiftly departed, leaving behind a ghostly echo.

"I'll deal with you later, Uchiha."

* * *

"What was that about Sasuke?" Sakura asked, the sun slowly setting on the horizon.

Sasuke had thought about what Kisame had said, but he could still make neither head nor tail of it. "I have no idea." He honestly replied.

Naruto put his hands behind his head and shrugged. "No matter what he was talking about, he was an easy fight."

Eyes rolling, Sakura responded, "Naruto he's quite obviously a water specialist. How often do you see sharks travelling through the forest?"

Naruto paused suddenly before looking around. 'Would there really be underground sharks here?' he thought, panicked.

Seeing his expression, Sakura answered her own question. "You don't. The only jutsu he used on us was a technique for travelling as a shark through earth. So if you can imagine him in water, using all the other he has stored for that type of battle."

Sasuke nodded. "He thought I would've been an easy fight. Didn't think he'd need any backup or to use any other jutsu." He said, angered.

Sakura put her hand on his shoulder. "Proved them wrong." She said, grinning.

Sasuke couldn't help a small smile back to her.

"HELL YEAH WE DID!" Naruto shouted, punching his fists in front of him.

Sakura sweat dropped at her companion, and smiled awkwardly. Sasuke was not as pleased as his friends, this was only a taste of what he could do. How would they fare against him if they met him again?

'When we meet him again.'

* * *

**Author's Notes: My goodness! Kisame! So as you can probably tell, I'm not that good at writing fight scenes, nor do I like them, but to continue my plot development I've decided to use the Akatsuki in this adventure, though they only play a small part. Yes, this is a shorter one, to balance out the extra 1500 words the last chapter had! I'm not that pleased with the beginning, but it's not like battles would take place once they were comfortably walking along, and whenever they pleased. Ahhh whatever. Thank you for reading, if you have any ideas, suggestions, whatever, leave a review or PM me :)  
**


	5. Truth or Dare?

**Author's Note: So, it has been continued :D You have all been very kind with your reviews, and I encourage you all to review ^^. It may seem shallow and strange, but each review makes me want to continue writing, and inspires me just that little bit more. Well, here we go!**

**Disclaimer: ****All characters mentioned in this story are the property of Masashi Kishimoto and TV Tokyo, and the author of this story does not mean to imply ownership of said characters.**

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* * *

**

"Sakura, pleeeeease." whined a familiar voice.

"No, Naruto, we have to keep moving." She replied. Sasuke smirked at her response. She didn't cave to Naruto anymore, she had definitely grown up.

"Whhyyyy?" Naruto asked, in the same annoying tone, throwing his dead arms in front of him.

Unbeknownst to Naruto, the look on her face showed that she was going to punch him soon. Saving her from the need, Sasuke responded.

"Dobe if we stop we won't be able to make the border on schedule."

Naruto groaned at the news, his feet felt heavy upon the gravel path they walked upon. He had a small backpack but at this time of night it felt like he was dragging boulders along with him.

Sakura had groaned inwardly, she didn't exactly relish the idea of an all-night trek either, but it had to be done. They had used up heaps of time stopping, and this was the only way to make it up.

"Why don't we do something to pass the time?" Sasuke suggested, in a strangely light-hearted tone, his feet crunching with each step.

Sakura nodded, anything to ward off the unwanted feelings of sleep.

The orange nin's eyes had a peculiar shine to them, he had something in mind…

"Truth or dare!" Naruto exclaimed, but Sakura had begun shaking her head.

"If we do any dares," she began explaining, "they can't take us off track, like, go find a squirrel or something."

Naruto nodded his agreement, and Sasuke just shrugged, not really caring.

"Okay, I'll start!" Naruto said happily. "Sakura, truth or d-"

Sasuke had shoved a hand over Naruto's mouth, pausing and whipping around, Sakura following suit.

"WHAT WAS THAT FOR TEME?" Naruto shouted, wrenching the opposing hand away from his mouth.

Sakura hit Naruto's shoulder, hard enough so that he would shut up, but not so hard that he was injured… critically.

Sasuke activated his sharingan, looking through the bushes to find who was following them. His eyes being acutely aware of everything happening around him, he saw Sakura sigh in relief.  
'What was she so secure about?' he wondered.

Sakura motioned for Sasuke to stand down, and he did so, returning his eyes to their onyx state.

"You can come out now." Sakura called out to the bushes.

With a couple rustles, three ninja emerged, one jumping down from the trees above. Team Guy had joined Team Kakashi.

"As perceptive as ever Sakura!" Lee exclaimed, giving a thumbs up to Sakura. Tenten covered her face with her palm, embarrassed as she always was with Lee's behaviour. Neji just sighed at his teammate's ways, used to them after many long years of training.

"How did you know they were there?" Sasuke directed to Sakura, confused.

Sakura smiled daintily, before brushing him off lightly with "A girl has her ways."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed at her, while Sakura smiled innocently back at him.

Naruto watched the exchange between his companions, rubbing his shoulder from where Sakura punched him. He raised his eyebrow at them. 'I wonder what's going on between Sakura and the teme..' he thought. 'Oh well! Ramen, ramen, ramen!'

Naruto wasn't the only one who had noticed, Tenten arching one of her eyebrows.

"Thank you, Lee." Sakura responded, before asking, "What are you guys doing out here?"

Neji and Tenten glanced at each other, Neji then motioning for Tenten to speak.

"Tsunade asked us to accompany you to the border, in case you met any resistance."

Team 7 looked at each other and chuckled lightly.

"You're a couple hours late." Sasuke responded, smirking at the three nin who were supposed to be protecting them.

Neji turned his attention to the Uchiha. "Already?" he asked, to which Sasuke nodded.

Lee looked at his two companions smugly, before speaking to Team 7. "We travelled all day to get here. I thought we would've reached your camp, but I guess you decided to continue through the night."

Sakura began, "Yeah, otherwise we won't make it tom-"

"SAAAAKURAAAAAA!"

* * *

"So, what are you guys doing here?" Sakura asked, leaning backwards slightly. The fire in front of her illuminated the faces of the 6 new arrivals. Here they were, all together again. The Konoha 12.

Ino spoke between munches of fish kebab, "Well!" she began, wiping her mouth with her sleeve.

"Ino-pig…" Sakura muttered under her breath, causing a few chuckles from the surrounding ninjas.

Blushing crimson, Ino glared at Sakura before beginning her explanation.

"Well," she started, placing the skewer down beside her, "Tsunade-sama sent us on some scouting mission." Ino motioned towards her, Shikamaru and Choji, both who were sitting next to her.  
"And we ran into them." She finished, gesturing to Hinata, Kiba and Shino.

"Ino, that's not exactly.. an explanation.." Tenten spoke, shuffling slightly from her position next to Neji.

Sakura nodded, then turned to Team Kurenai. "So then why are you guys out here? Hinata?" she asked.

Hinata blushed scarlet as eleven pairs of eyes turned to face her. A certain pair seemed to be taking slightly more interest in her than the others. The blush creeping up her face, she replied, "Um, we were just, uh, returning from a m-mission."

Sakura noticed the increasing embarrassment of her friend, and directed attention away from her. "So, we've all been brought here together by some… very convenient timing." She concluded.

"Yeah, some might say…" Shikamaru muttered. Ino punched him before beaming at Sakura.

"Ino…" Sakura warned.

"Eheheh." Ino chuckled nervously.

"What did you do?" Sakura asked, clearing her face of any emotion.

Shikamaru put two hands behind his head, intertwining fingers and laid backwards, leaving Ino to fend for herself.

"We may have taken a uh.. slight detour." she answered. Shikamaru scoffed, making it obvious he was still listening. Ino struck him again, leaving him softly groaning.

Then the next thing surprised each and every one of them.

"Yay!" Sakura squealed.

With wide eyes, Ino asked, "You're.. not mad?"

Sakura Haruno, known for being 'by the book' and who had memorised the Shinobi Handbook back to front, wasn't angry?

"Of course not! I haven't seen you in weeks!" she cried happily.

Ino smiled, pleased that her best friend was glad to see her.

"So, what shall we do to celebrate this 'reunion'?" Neji asked, somewhat sarcastically.

"TRUTH OR DARE!" Naruto shouted, grinning that he still was going to be able to play his favourite game.

Kiba made a negative motion with his hand. "I think me and Akamaru need some sleep." He said, heading towards where he had set up his tent, Akamaru padding softly after him.

"Before anyone else goes, did anyone bring a spare tent?" Sakura asked hopefully. Disappointment coloured her cheeks by the head-shakings she got in response.

Sasuke smirked and nudged her, to which she elbowed him in the stomach. Shrugging, Sasuke leaned backwards in a manner similar to Shikamaru, pretending that her assault hadn't injured him. He didn't fool Sakura, who smiled triumphantly.

"I've got some digesting to do," Choji said, getting up and wandering off from the group. A few others made their excuses, and the remaining 8 ninja moved in closer to the fire, forming a tight circle.

Sakura was next to Sasuke, who had sat back up, recovering from the attack on him. Beside him was Naruto, and then Hinata, to both her absolute horror and pleasure. Situated next to her was Ino and Shikamaru's reclining form, beside which was Tenten and Neji.

"Alright, who wants to go first!" Naruto enthused. Only the girls seemed to share his same want to play the game, with Shikamaru, Neji and Sasuke simultaneously sighing.

"Me!" Tenten exclaimed happily. Neji looked at her in surprise, she didn't usually act so girly.

"Okay, truth or dare?" Naruto asked.

Tenten grinned devilishly, "Dare." Neji almost rolled his eyes, now that wasn't a surprise.

"Ooh! Ooh! Can I do it?" Ino asked, almost pleading with Naruto. Naruto nodded happily, Ino probably had something much better than anything he could've thought of.

Ino got up and walked over to Tenten, pulling her up.  
"We'll be right back," Ino said, a malicious gleam in her eyes.

Sakura and Hinata watched them enter Ino's tent and glanced at each other. This wasn't going to end well.

Shikamaru voiced their thoughts aloud, muttering about troublesome women under his breath.

When they returned, Tenten had a faint pink blush on her cheeks, while Ino had a triumphant smile on her face.

"She'll be completing her dare later." Ino said happily, sitting back down next to Shikamaru and Hinata.

Tenten returned to her spot beside Neji with a slightly dazed look, causing a puzzled expression from Neji being cast her way. Tenten lightly leaned on Neji, her head on his shoulder, causing a light pink blush to creep up Neji's neck.

"Your turn Tenten! Who do you want to ask?" Naruto enthused, pleased that the game was progressing well.

Tenten looked around the circle, carefully avoiding Neji's gaze. "Uhh, Hinata! Truth or dare?"

Hinata whipped her head up to look at Tenten, nervous. Once again, the piercing gaze of a certain orange ninja was upon her.

"Um.. d-dare." She said softly, wondering if Naruto would approve.

Naruto's eyes widened, as did the female nin in the circle.

Tenten looked around, motioning for anyone to give her a dare.

"I've got one." Neji spoke, sitting up a little straighter. "I dare you to get us some sake." he dared, the corners of his mouth lifting upwards. His precious little underage cousin doing something with alcohol. 'This should be interesting.' He thought.

Hinata blushed once again, before quickly moving from her spot, heading over to her tent.

Ino blinked in surprise and looked around. "Um, I guess she didn't want to play anymore?"

Sasuke sighed inwardly. If he could have gotten some liquid courage in Sakura, he may have found out how she knew where Team Guy was. He was still insanely curious.

A chinking of metal turned their attention away from Ino. Hinata was back, and she'd brought the goods.

"Hinata! Wow! I didn't know you drank!" Naruto exclaimed, unintentionally sounding rude.

Hinata returned to her place, placing an expensive looking sake kit in front of her, the illumination of the fire somewhat hiding the blush on her cheeks.

"My father, he uh, gave it to me for s-special occasions." Hinata tentatively explained. She set out 8 small cups and two bottles of sake. There were two separate patterns for four of the cups.

"Maybe we should move away from the fire." Sakura suggested, pulling herself to her feet. Sasuke mumbled, annoyed that he no longer felt her warm body's presence.

* * *

On first glance, everyone seemed happily paired up. Tenten was gently leaning on Neji's shoulder, while Ino and Shikamaru were lying down next to each other, looking up at the stars. Sasuke was lying in Sakura's lap as she stroked his hair, and only Naruto and Hinata seemed to be keeping a cautious distance between the two of them.

The game had continued, and it was Ino's turn to ask. Each had ingested a couple of cups of sake, and the result was them being more courageous in their questions and answers.

"Shika-kun," Ino began, turning slightly to face her teammate. "Truth or dare?" she asked, yawning slightly at the end.

Yawning as well, Shikamaru replied, "Truth."

Ino waved her hand around, inviting anyone to ask him a question. Sitting up slightly straighter, Sasuke smirked at Sakura with a devious grin. Sakura raised an eyebrow as she smiled at him, hoping at least it would be a good question.

"So, Shika-kun," Sasuke started patronisingly, causing a little huff from Shikamaru, "How come Ino is allowed to be so close to you? I thought that all women were troublesome and 'such a drag'." he imitated.

Ino stiffened beside Shikamaru, insanely embarrassed, and yet wanting to hear the answer herself. Shikamaru didn't even get up to answer Sasuke's question.

"Ino's my teammate. She's slightly less of a drag than most." he responded.

Sakura mentally rolled her eyes. 'Right, and he'd let Chouji lie that close to him as well, huh?' she thought.

Ino sighed, almost happily, at what Shikamaru said, relaxing back into her position beside him. With a few devious thoughts, Ino whispered something quickly into Shikamaru's ear. Nodding boredly, he projected his voice to the group.

"Sakura. Truth or dare?" he asked, in the same bored tone.

Eyes widening in surprise, Sakura hesitantly answered, "Truth."

Ino sat up, looking at Sakura with real curiosity in her eyes.

"Who was your first boyfriend?"

Sakura's hands paused in their stroking of Sasuke's hand, and he felt it. Jealousy crept up into Sasuke's stomach, since when had she had a boyfriend? He glanced up to see Sakura's expression.

"Um.." Sakura hesitated, blush filling her cheeks.

Ino smiled at Sakura. "Come on Sakura, it's just a game!" she encouraged. She had wanted to find out about this for a while, but Sakura had never relented and told her.

Everyone was sitting up a little straighter, knowing the answer had to be something good if she was so unwilling. One of them, however, wanted to disappear.

Sakura spoke, almost whispering.

…

"Neji-kun."

* * *

**Author's Notes: Did ya see it coming? Did ya! I hope not D: You have no idea how hard it was to not insert a "HAIR BACK IN FORTH" in the sentence, "Hinata whipped her head up." I hate that song… so much. I'll be back to school in a week and a half, bleh. Don't expect any new chapters soonish because I'll be getting ready for that ): But if you do want me to continue, don't hesitate to review, PM me or anything else you can think of. **

**Oh, and I know that it's the Konoha 11 but Sasuke didn't leave so... Using the mathematic formula of 11+1, I changed it. :D**

**Thank you for reading!  
**


	6. Inebriation

**Author's Notes: I luuurve reviews, thank you all :D It's kind of depressing watching my traffic go up for like, two days, then dipping back down to 10 views a day. Oh well, I thank each and every one of you for reading!**

**Disclaimer: All characters mentioned in this story are the property of Masashi Kishimoto and TV Tokyo, and the author of this story does not mean to imply ownership of said characters.**

* * *

Ino's eyes bulged out of their sockets. She had been expecting some generic name of some waiter, or something like that. 'Tenten must be so angry! Not to mention Sasuke…" Ino thought.

Contrary to what was thought of her, Tenten seemed calm. Her expression mirrored almost everyone around hers, eyes wide open, mouth dropping. Neji and Sasuke on the other hand…

"You went out with Neji!" Naruto shouted, shocked to his very core. His precious teammate had dated?  
"When was this?" he asked, exasperated, unaware of the hurt expression present on the face to his right.

Sakura tried shrugging indifferently. "About four years ago." She answered, attempting to imitate Shikamaru's bored tone.

"Why would you go out with him?" Sasuke scowled, sitting up.

Neji scowled in turn at Sasuke. "Try not to make me sound like a disease, Uchiha." he snarled, causing Tenten to nudge him, trying to calm him down.

"Careful Tenten," Sasuke started, "You might catch something if you're that close." he warned, scowl still ever present on his face.

Neji stood up angrily, positioned himself in a defensive stance and shouted in anger. "Oh yeah? Are you willing to test that out with my fists?"

"Neji! Sit down!" Sakura cried out, not wanting any conflict between them.

"Bring it on, Hyuga." Sasuke replied, getting up himself. Bringing up his fists, Sasuke prepared to strike the older boy.

Neji beat him to the punch (literally), hitting him in the chest. As Sasuke brought up his leg to strike Neji while he was distracted, Naruto jumped in between them and pushed them apart.

"Stop fighting! What are you doing?" Naruto shouted. The fight's noise had brought Lee over, who had yet to go to sleep. Wrapping his arms under Neji's shoulders, Lee restrained him and dragged him away from Sasuke. Naruto turned and stopped Sasuke from running over and hitting Neji in his vulnerable state.

Sakura looked up at the two boys, and got up in a huff, angrily stomping over to her tent.

Thoughts of the fight over, Sasuke turned from Naruto and followed after her hurriedly.

"How could you date such a jerk!" Sasuke demanded, trailing her.

Refusing to turn to face him, Sakura responded, "He's not a jerk! You goaded him into fighting you!"

Sasuke dashed in front of her, stopping her temporarily. Holding out his arms to stop her, he shouted, "You're defending him!"

Ducking underneath him, Sakura still refused to look at him. Ignoring his rhetorical question, Sakura yelled, "You ruined a perfectly good reunion!" Stomping her feet angrily, she almost gritted her teeth at the annoying boy.

"Well so-o-orry Princess! I didn't realise you and your boyfriend had some catching up to do!" he replied bitingly.

"He's not my boyfriend!" Sakura shouted, turning and looking him dead in the eyes, pointing her right index finger right in his face.

Sasuke's normally cool onyx eyes were fuming in anger, betraying the feelings he usually kept pent-up inside.

Turning back around, Sakura was nearing her tent when she shouted her intended last words. "Why do you care so much!"

The words only momentarily pausing Sasuke, he returned his following, loudly stomping after her.

Sakura stood at the entrance of her tent, turning around and yelled, "Good night!" Pulling open the entrance, she climbed it and very purposefully made an effort to slam the tent flap. An obvious sign of "do not come in if you want to live."

Ignoring the deadly signs, Sasuke pulled back the flap and moved in, ducking his head. Sakura was packing things in and out of her bag, obviously tired. Tired of him, tired of his questions, and tired of his anger (definitely not jealousy).

"What base did you get to?" he asked, making an effort for his voice to sound indifferent and uncaring.

Hoping that with her head down Sasuke couldn't see her blushing furiously, Sakura harshly responded, "That's none of your business."

Attempting to stand and face him to get him out of her tent, she found him very close. Much too close.

"Isn't it?" he spoke softly. Sakura's heart beat intensified, she could feel it pounding in her chest. She felt his hand on the back of her neck, causing unwanted goose bumps to jump on her arms. He pulled her in closer, and she followed, almost unwilling. She felt his hot breath, mingling with her own. The pounding got louder, feeling like it was in her ears. He leaned in closer, almost t-

"TEME!" Naruto shouted, his eyes closed in anger, "STOP BUGGING SAKURA-CHAN!"

Opening his eyes, still with fury, he saw the teme very close to Sakura-chan, probably interrogating her about Neji!

Sasuke turned to face Naruto, his hand dropping from Sakura's neck without Naruto's knowledge.

He departed the tent, and if either one of his teammates had looked closer, they would have seen a small smirk on his face.

* * *

Naruto eyed his companions narrowly, watching their careful movements towards each other, a hand on his forehead shading his eyes from the sun. Sakura was avoiding the teme, Naruto gleefully concluded. The two tents were almost packed, Sasuke taking care of Naruto's even though he hadn't slept in one the previous night.

Hinata came from behind Naruto, who was almost oblivious to the pale girl.

"What are y-you looking at N-naruto-kun?" Hinata asked, deciphering the scene before her.

Naruto pointed out Sasuke and Sakura, taking obvious pleasure in their hesitance towards each other. "Sakura's not speaking to teme." He responded cheerfully.

Hinata drew her eyebrows together, puzzled. This wasn't the Naruto she knew. 'Love makes one do uncharacteristic things.' She thought painfully, the hurt spreading to her face.

Turning his head, Naruto noticed her expression and furrowed his brow in confusion. Hinata quickly put on a calming façade, smiling somewhat.

"Shouldn't you, um, try and f-find out what's wrong?" she queried, wondering if the inner Naruto would do the right thing.

Naruto turned back to face his companions. His best friends in the entire world were his teammates, and they were fighting. Naruto thought hard about what Hinata said, attempting to piece together his next step. He didn't like his second conclusion of the day.

Sighing slightly, he nodded at Hinata and walked over to the two nin who were purposefully facing opposite directions with their packed equipment by their sides.

* * *

"Good morning!" Naruto cheerfully yelled to Sakura and Sasuke. Sakura rolled her eyes before smiling at her orange friend.

"Good morning Naruto." Sakura responded, turning to face her best guy friend.

Naruto smiled happily at her in response, then turned to Sasuke. After waiting a few moments, Naruto repeated, "Good morning."

Sasuke gave his signature "Hn.", refusing to turn.

Tilting slightly to see his response, Sakura pursed her lips, remembering why she had been so annoyed. Huffing, she picked her backpack off the ground and moved away to say goodbye to Ino.

Naruto sidled over to Sasuke, attempting to be subtle. It didn't work.

"Back away, Naruto." Sasuke said. Naruto paused, the teme only used his name when he was serious. But Naruto was also serious, about what was wrong between him and Sakura.

"Just thought you should remember that everyone was a little drunk last night," Naruto began, trying to defuse Sasuke's anger, "And that people make mistakes when they're… inebriated." He finished, struggling with the last word somewhat.

Sasuke widened his eyes in shock. "Since when did you add to your vocabulary?" he asked, smirking at the end.

Naruto grinned at his friend's return to his normal behaviour. "Sakura-chan's been teaching me!" he exclaimed, oblivious to Sasuke's brief pause of annoyance.

"Speaking of Sakura-chan, I'll go find her." Naruto said, turning to look for her.

Sasuke put a hand out in front of him – again – and shook his head at Naruto.

"I'll go." He simply said, walking off to find her.

* * *

"I don't know how you manage to even talk to him." Ino replied, shaking out her hair from its band.

Sakura slyly raised an eyebrow. "You used to talk to him all the time." She said, smiling. " 'Oh, Sasuke-kun! Marry me!' 'Will you be my boyfriend, Sasuke-kun?' " Sakura imitated in her best little Ino voice.

Ino blushed from behind the curtain of her hair, and flung her hair back, tying her hair back up in its ponytail.

"Well I'm certainly not doing that anymore." Ino huffed, hands still busy behind her head.

Sakura grinned, "You've moved on to other… interests." She implied, eyes flickering to the right.

Ino turned and saw Shikamaru packing up his and her tent. As she turned back, Sakura noticed the faint pink blush on her cheeks.

"Maybe…" Ino muttered, eyes downcast. At the sound of Sakura's laughter, Ino brought her head back up and laughed with her.

When her laughter stop, and eyes suddenly widened at a sight behind her, Sakura almost sighed at the thought of what she would have to face behind her.

"Could I speak to you?" a familiar deep voice asked. Sakura turned to face him. He was hunched over slightly, as if he was feeling pain.

'Yeah, to his pride.' Sakura scoffed in her thoughts. Sakura crossed her arms and let an expression of indifference cover her face.

"Yes?" she asked, boredom colouring her tone.

Sasuke furrowed his brow – cutely in Sakura's opinion – and gestured lightly towards Ino.

"Somewhere private, perhaps?" he asked.

Sakura turned to Ino, but all she saw was a glimpse of blonde hair as it disappeared behind a tent. Sakura gritted her teeth, and turned to face Sasuke with her mouth closed as to not give away her annoyance.

"What do you want?" Sakura almost growled, sick of everything he had done, and everything she had to put up with.

"I wanted to… apologise." He began, before pausing, gauging her reaction.

Snorting lightly Sakura responded, "How many times are you going to apologise before you mean it?"

Sasuke was hurt, and she knew it. He was trying to open up to her, but in her anger she had responded badly and pierced him in his vulnerable state.

"Look, I had had a few more cups of sake than was necessary, and I just wasn't in control of myself." he said, his voice taking on a pleading tone. "I'm really.. truly…" he almost finished.

Sakura raised an eyebrow, waiting for the final word.

"Sorry." He breathed out, pride hoping she wouldn't throw it back in his face.

Unable to ignore the adorable look on his puppy dog face, Sakura smiled at him; a cautious, guarded smile, but a smile nevertheless.

"You should just be glad I don't have a hairbrush handy." Sakura teased lightly, uncrossing her arms.

Sasuke smiled one of his few, genuine smiles. It took Sakura's breath away, and almost outshone his next statement.

"You should just be glad I have clothes on."

As soon as Sakura's blush appeared, Sasuke was back to his smirking self. Sakura suddenly attacked him, launching her arms around his neck and burrowing her face into his chest.

Surprised, but not displeased, Sasuke wrapped his arms around her back.

"I'm glad we're back to being just friends." Sakura whispered, content. Being so close to his heart, she may have even heard the pinch that caused it to stutter.

'Friends.' Sasuke thought. 'Just friends.'

* * *

**Author's Notes: It's shorter than I wanted, because I was determined to release it Saturday morning American time :D My power went out D: Floods in QLD are still having after effects, and I lost power for two days when I wasn't able to use my laptop ;[. Anyway, hope you liked this chapter! Review, PM, whatever ^^ Thank you all for reading.**


	7. Apologies again :

**Author's Notes: Well, I know that some may be annoyed at my decision, but I have decided that A Story To Remember is on hiatus until I can get over my writer's block and find some spare time in between school to write. I can't put into words how sorry I am to the people that have subscribed to me and put this on their story alerts, I'm afraid that writing for me is inspirational only, and anything I tried writing now would be forced and unwelcome.**

**I'm extremely sorry to you all, and wish I could find a way around this block. If I do, I will put up whatever I can think of, but I'm sorry to repeat the famous phrase, "Don't hold your breath". Or perhaps infamous phrase? Whatever. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, and I'm sorry. **

**Hoping you can forgive me,**

**Special K**


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